House of Yi

The House of Yi, also called the Korean Imperial Household, was the household of the Joseon Dynasty and Korean Empire, consisting of the descendants of the Yi Seong-gye, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. Yi Seong-gye is known as Taejo: The Great Ancestor. All his descendants are members of the Jeonju Yi clan, including the imperial family of the Korean Empire (1897–1910).

After the annexation of the Korean Peninsula by Empire of Japan in 1910, some members of the Yi clan were mediatized into the Korean royal family and the Korean peerage by the Japanese government until 1947, just before the Japanese Constitution was promulgated. Since then, their status as royalty has not been acknowledged by any country; however, they continue to attract occasional media attention in South Korea. This happened most recently with the July 2005 funeral of Prince Gu, former head of the royal household.

At present, Prince Chung is the de jure genealogical heir to the heads of the imperial family, when male primogeniture is applied. However, he has not taken an active position on the debate over the leadership of the imperial family between his two relatives, Hereditary Prince Imperial Won (a first cousin and the son of the 9th son of Prince Ui) and Princess Haewon (his aunt and second eldest daughter of Prince Ui).

Read more about House Of Yi:  Known Descendants Today, Title, House of Yi Family Tree, The Korean Throne Since 1910

Famous quotes containing the words house of and/or house:

    You see how this House of Commons has begun to verify all the ill prophecies that were made of it—low, vulgar, meddling with everything, assuming universal competency, and flattering every base passion—and sneering at everything noble refined and truly national. The direct tyranny will come on by and by, after it shall have gratified the multitude with the spoil and ruin of the old institutions of the land.
    Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)

    If you follow the suburban fashion in building a sumptuous- looking house for a little money, it will appear to all eyes as a cheap, dear house.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)